


At Arm’s Length

by The_Lieutenant



Category: Boku no Hero Academia, My Hero Academia
Genre: I Don't Even Know, Injury, M/M, Post-Sports Festival Arc (My Hero Academia), Todoroki Enji | Endeavor Being An Asshole, kiribaku, tododeku - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-12
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-08-22 16:34:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16601606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Lieutenant/pseuds/The_Lieutenant
Summary: After stopping Endeavor’s scheme, Todoroki is at odds about his feelings for fellow classmate Midoriya. He has to choose whether to keep him close or push him away from the danger that is his father.





	1. Chapter 1

Feet pittered rhythmically against the ground, mimicking the light drizzle that had picked up on his run, and approached the location he was given. Upon arriving at the scene, heterochromatic eyes turned up to glimpse a flash of green being catapulted into the air. It was like watching a rag doll being thrown around. 

Todoroki caught his breath before using his ice as a platform, accelerating to catch his classmate. He grabbed Midoriya with his left arm, the older’s eyes opening slightly at the contact. The ice trailed his feet and allowed Todoroki to skid to a stop on the ground. This was the first chance he had to really look at the beating Midoriya had taken. 

His legs were horribly burned, the fibers of his pants and shoes melting into the mess that used to be exposed flesh, not to mention the myriad of cuts, bruises, and a deep cut resting above a particularly nasty black eye. His opponent, on the other hand, was unscathed. He assumed Midoriya had been avoiding causing any harm to his attacker.

“You’re safe now, Midoriya,” he muttered, more as an assurance to himself rather than his classmate, who probably didn’t notice in his minimally conscious state. With Midoriya safely propped up against one of the walls lining the alley, Todoroki placed his jacket over him, stood up slowly, and turned to face the monster who dared to hurt his friend. Endeavor stared back at him. 

As much as he would love to strike back, there was no winning against the number two hero. Avoidance was the only option that allowed him to get his classmate medical attention without further injury. “Stand down. I sent all of class 1-a my location. They’ll be arriving soon.” That was a flat out lie and they both knew it. Any quick glance through his phone would reveal his utter lack of contacts. His father stared back at him, the flames covering his body settling ever so slightly.

“That child is a distraction from your education. You’ll never beat All Might if you keep fraternizing with his protégé,” the so-called ‘hero’ snapped, but his face didn’t shift from the resting mild annoyance like Todoroki was a bug on the bottom of his shoe. “Step away so I can finish my work.” 

Todoroki’s hands twitched, barely containing the fire and ice that were seeping through his skin. Couldn’t he see that Midoriya was the reason he even started using his fire? The reason he grew as a person? There was no way he could hold off his father, fire would do nothing against him and the heat radiating off him was strong enough to melt his ice. He definitely couldn’t use his ice to jump the walls without getting caught. He couldn’t damage any of the nearby buildings without legal repercussions so his larger attacks were out of the question. Maybe he could possibly- a voice cut through his thoughts, stating, 

“This is it, Shouto. You don’t stand a chance.” In that second, Todoroki cut off the opening between them with ice, encasing the students against the alley’s dead end and putting as much ice between them and Endeavor as possible. He knelt down, grabbing Midoriya’s shoulders and shook him lightly. 

“Midoriya. I need you to call All Might. I can’t hold Endeavor off forever.” He shuffled around in a pocket of the discarded jacket and passed his phone to Midoriya. A scarred hand lifted shakily as his phone was taken from his grasp. Could he have hit his head? 

Todoroki pulled Midoriya’s head into his chest, and a crack ripped through the air, the flames breaking the barrier of ice. Todoroki’s right hand shot out as he attempted to push back Endeavor, buying enough time to stand up. The ice melted into pellets of water that sizzled on the hero’s skin. Lunging forward, Todoroki again blocked Endeavor’s field of vision and kicked out a leg towards his old man’s knees. A hand snapped down on his ankle, stopping any momentum the kick carried. Using the leverage to his advantage, Todoroki kicked his second leg up, aiming at the head. This leg was caught as well.

“He’s made you predictable, weak,” Endeavor said. The grip tightened before the boy was flung at the wall. The ground slipped beneath him, friction failing to catch the bottom of Todoroki’s shoes. At such a speed, he had no time to stop himself from plowing into the brick. His vision blurred and buzzing filled his head, pounding against his skull, begging to be released.

Todoroki grabbed at his head uselessly. He couldn’t see. He couldn’t think. His hands trembled and covered his left eye. Everything he felt was multiplied, every breath monstrously loud. Footsteps seemed to slowly pound towards him. 

“Stay out of my way.” Adrenaline kicked in, and Todoroki expelled ice to create a chilled equilibrium that negated the surge of fire aimed at his body. The force urged him up, glimpsing the fiery figure approaching the sprawled boy clutching his phone. Endeavor lifted his hand and ignited a flame.

“Izuku!” He yelled, ignoring the creeping feeling of embarrassment for using his given name. Careful not to hit Midoriya, Todoroki again intercepted the attack and established a layer of ice between the two. 

Endeavor’s attention turned from the green haired boy to face his son, who was slowly pushing himself up from the ground. Crack. Heat ripped through Todoroki’s chest as he was stomped back into the wall. Gasping for breath, all progress to move was erased, and he slid back down the wall. 

A copper taste flooded his mouth as blood filled the back of his throat. He didn’t have time to cough it up before the foot slammed back down on his chest. Between his own scream and the pounding of blood in his ears, Todoroki distantly heard Midoriya call his name.

“I gave you every opportunity and you waste your time, your talent, with some kid.” With every few words, Todoroki felt another impact. He couldn’t focus enough energy on his quirk, and the hands desperately clawing at Endeavor’s ankles fell by the end of the sentence. In an instant, the weight left his chest. Was he dead? Probably not. He could still hear Midoriya yelling. He stared idly into the clouds, letting the rain drip on his face, head swirling until he heard a thud that yanked him back into the situation.

His eyes snapped open to see Midoriya fall to his knees next to Todoroki, his burned legs unable to support his weight. Endeavor was on the ground, which had been damaged by the impact. His eyes shifted back over to a light tinge on Midoriya’s fist from the flames surrounding the hero. The shock of the burns had worn off, leaving only two future heroes trying to protect each other. As the dust filled the air, Midoriya turned to look at him and held out his hand. 

“He’s coming.” They had a chance, All Might was on his way.

Endeavor grumbled lowly, “I’ll cremate you where you stand.” He sprinted at the students, fire engulfing all of the nearby alleyway. Midoriya tried pulling him up as best he could from his lowered position. His stomach turned as he rose to his feet, hand catching the side of the building for support. He whispered something in Midoriya’s ear. 

Endeavor’s flames shot out at them, the heat excruciating, even with Todoroki’s internal equilibrium. Todoroki’s ice was quickly evaporated, and he used the distraction to block Endeavor’s vision with his fire. Endeavor waved his hand and knocked the flames away, but didn’t notice a cut through the fire. Midoriya’s foot came down and across his cheek. 

The student quickly retreated, and Todoroki covered the man in as much ice as his body could muster. Seconds passed, and their breathing seemed to halt as they waited. Suddenly, darkness overcame them and a laugh echoed through the walls. A sigh of relief escaped Midoriya. In an instant, the ice crumbled to the ground.

“Cool it, hothead. You wouldn’t want to lose your license over some children,” persuaded All Might, who stood in between the hero and the students. He was wearing the same formal clothes he had worn during class earlier that day. Endeavor’s eyes narrowed as he slipped out of the alley. 

All Might turned towards them and ruffled Midoriya’s hair. Steam was already trickling out between his muscles, so he quickly lifted the kids up into his arms and leaped up onto the roof of a building that connected to the alley. “Good thinking to message me like that, young Midoriya.” 

The wind from the jump felt like small razors darting across Todoroki’s skin. He tucked his face into All Might’s shoulder, dimly aware that he had smeared blood on his teacher’s white shirt. It wasn’t long before the hero had leaped to UA and sprinted through the building to Recovery Girl’s clinic. News of the second best hero assaulting children, one of which being his own son, would shake the image of heroes, so this was the best place he could take them without leaking any information. 

“These kids are breaking bones trying to train with you, but plus ultra I guess,” Recovery Girl chastised, gesturing for All Might to place each boy on a cot. He quickly obeyed her.

“Why do you always assume it was me?” He practically whined. A quick glance at his shirt showed a pool of bright red decorating the starch white. He must have punctured something, the teacher assumed. “I got a message from Young Midoriya that they were attacked.” He watched the older woman navigate around the cots, provide both with gummies that would knock them out.

“Broken ribs, concussion, and severe burns. Lucky that there are no spinal injuries or punctures considering the mangled ribs…” She mumbled to herself. “Well don’t just stand there. Shoo! I’ll have a hard enough time as is dealing with these two. I don’t need a third child.”

“Wait,” Todoroki coughed. All Might hesitated before stepping over to his student, careful not to bump into anything with his muscular form, and bending down to meet him eye to eye. Todoroki grabbed the hero’s sleeve cuff. “He’s the only one paying my mother’s medical bills. Please don’t do anything.” If it weren’t for the onset of the gummies, Todoroki might have cursed himself for acting so pitifully, but right now, he was just focused on keeping his eyes open.

“Don’t worry, Young Todoroki. I’ll take care of this.”


	2. Earlier That Day

Todoroki grabbed his bag, straightened his uniform, and left his childhood home, not bothering to say goodbye to his siblings. Fuyumi had forced him to stay the night there to celebrate his brother’s, Natsuo, birthday (she had even called Aizawa, without his knowledge, to get permission to take her little brother for the weekend), but he wasn’t exceptionally fond of the place, so he tried to spend as little time as possible there. It was early, and the sun hadn’t even touched the horizon yet, but that would give him enough time to grab his books from his dorm room.

The celebration had been quiet, but it wasn’t like the children weren’t used to that. Endeavor had stopped by briefly but hadn’t spoken a word before leaving a few minutes later. He had made it clear when they were younger that he didn’t care for anything regarding his children, with the exception of Shouto’s training. 

Lost in thought, a vibration from his pocket cut through the silence of his walk. It didn’t occur to him until that moment to check it. Four unread messages from Midoriya, three texts and one over social media. The latest one, the social media one, popped up as soon as he turned on his phone to reveal a picture of his classmate’s scarred hand holding an All Might figurine with the caption, “for your morning walk ;p”. His insistence on using the juvenile emoticons always relieved the pressure of responding formally. 

Nearing an intersection, Todoroki slid his phone back into his pocket, not bothering to read the previous messages. He boarded the train and tried his best to ignore the multitude of stares he got. The ride was silent and quick, the humming of the train and the dull lighting doing nothing to wash off his fatigue. 

 

The sun was blinding by the time he arrived at the Heights Alliance building. The halls were already buzzing with students getting ready and leaving. Todoroki received a few greetings and returned the gestures with a quick wave. Chilled air hit him as soon as he opened the door to his traditionally styled room. Papers and books remained precisely where he had left them, angled to perfection. His eyes drifted over to the only thing out of place: a piece of scratch paper Midoriya had doodled on. He enjoyed the crudely drawn picture of his classmates in their hero outfits and kept it near his desk to gaze overwhenever a problem had him particularly frustrated..

It wasn’t a minute after he arrived that he heard a knock. Iida stepped in as Todoroki gathered the materials he had left over the weekend and placed them in his bag.

“You’re going to be late. A hero should always arrive ten minutes early,” His peer scolded, not bothering to acknowledge the fact that he, too, hadn’t left yet. 

“Is Midoriya still here?” To Todoroki’s disappointment, the answer was no. He set off with Iida, grabbing Uraraka on their way. After the sports festival, he had spent a considerable amount of time with the trio, but he felt particularly close to Midoriya. The older student was the first person he had given his phone number to at UA, and the only person who made him comfortable enough to assert himself socially. Typically, they would study together in Midoriya’s room, but recently Endeavor had become more aggravated by his lack of quirk training, forcing him home for more strenuous exercise.

The three arrive at their class just a few minutes before the bell, several students trailing sluggishly behind them. Midoriya was already seated in his normal place behind Bakugou and smiled at them as they entered the room. Todoroki returned a soft grin, which immediately disappeared as the aforementioned Bakugou turned to glare at him. Todoroki took his seat and turned his face away as he listened inconspicuously to Uraraka and Midoriya chat. Yaoyorozu had caught him multiple times and teased him endlessly for eavesdropping, so he was a little bit more careful around her.

This day, in particular, the duo kept their heads down, Bakugou adding a snide comment that Todoroki couldn’t catch on occasion. The tell-tale sound of the classroom door opening cut through the chatter, and Uraraka quickly took her seat as their homeroom teacher walked in.

 

Throughout the day, small things began to bother Todoroki. On the walk to lunch, Midoriya walked furthest away from him, whispering incessantly with Uraraka. Once in the cafeteria, Midoriya took a seat next to her instead of his normal place to the right of Todoroki. Iida filled the spot as Midoriya had displaced him. Todoroki tilted his head ever so slightly and caught his eye. Midoriya’s face flushed red, and he ducked his face back into the continuous muttering. 

He mulled over the possible reasons he may have angered his peer. It couldn’t have been his lack of response to the All Might picture, he never replied. Had he missed something important in the texts he hadn’t checked? He tried reaching for his phone, but Iida smacked his hand and explained the importance of socialization over meals. The two across from them ended their conversation, but Midoriya kept his eyes on his food.

“Midoriya, are you feeling well?” He reached over the table and placed the back of his right hand under Midoriya’s bangs on his forehead. He could have sworn the shorter’s skin got warmer at the touch. Was he nervous? Todoroki would be lying if he said the thought didn’t make his heart skip a beat, suddenly embarrassed he’d initiated contact. Midoriya pulled his hand off and placed it back on Todoroki’s side of the table. He shook his head and adamantly insisted that he was fine.

The rest of the day was the same routine of Midoriya avoiding Todoroki’s gaze until the final bell rung. Todoroki slung his bag over his shoulder and walked out of the classroom when he felt a hand yank on the back of his collar. He was pulled to the side of a hallway and spun around to face Bakugou. Of course. One more thing to complicate his day.

“Oi, Candy Cane, what’s your thing with Deku? The loser’s been whispering about you all day with Round Face. It’s annoying me,” Bakugou barked at him. Todoroki blinked slowly. That would explain the weird looks he’d been getting from said students.

“Perhaps you’re annoyed that he’s not paying attention to you, Kacchan.” Todoroki offered and swatted off Bakugou’s lingering hand, turning to leave. He ignored the crackling of Bakugou’s explosions and agitated yelling. He didn’t have time for petty squabbles, but messing with Bakugou did make him feel better about the lack of attention he had received from the green haired boy. 

“You wanna go, Two-face?!” He yelled, but there was no real malice. Todoroki almost smirked. He and Bakugou had recently become closer over the provisional license classes, and he trusted the blonde not to hurt him. It seemed as though Bakugou had mellowed out when it came to Todoroki, but teasing him about Midoriya was apparently a sore spot. 

“Stop messing with him, Katsuki.” Kirishima popped up behind them and chastised Bakugou, grabbing his hand and leading him away. “Sorry, Todoroki.” He rubbed the back of his neck before leaving with Bakugou. Mere moments after rounding the corner, however, another hand tapped Todoroki’s shoulder. He stiffened before hearing his favorite voice.

“I’ll see you there, ok?” Midoriya smiled up at him. It was a bit of an odd statement since they usually walked to the dorms together at the end of the day, but Todoroki brushed it off and appreciated the fact that Midoriya had finally spoken to him. He nodded in return before Midoriya jogged up to join Iida and Uraraka.

“Ah, Deku! Have you thought about what you’re going to wear?” Uraraka badgered as soon as Midoriya had caught up. He shrugged his shoulders.

“Todoroki only asked me to meet him somewhere, it’s not like it’s a date,” He fiddled with his hair, casting his eyes to his absurdly red shoes.

“He called you ‘Izuku’. That’s gotta mean something.” She protested and elbowed his ribs. The two chuckled, eyes flickering over their shoulders to make sure they were out of earshot of Todoroki.

“Yes. Such use of a given name must imply a close relationship,” Iida agreed whilst adjusting his glasses. Midoriya hummed at the thought, but he didn’t want to freak himself out over the possibility that one of his friends may have asked him out. He wasn’t even sure if it was a date. He smacked his cheeks, trying not to psych himself out. Todoroki has only sent him one cryptic text with no follow-up after all. Didn’t he like Yaomomo? Were he and Todoroki even close enough to be on a first name basis?

“Deku, you’re muttering again.” Uraraka noted, nudging him. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sure whatever happens will be ok.” He hummed in response, filled with a sense of confidence. He thanked the two before entering the Heights Alliance building and making a beeline for his room to hype himself up.

 

Todoroki sat at his desk, bouncing a small ball against the wall. It had been an hour since he’d changed and sat down, but it was uncomfortably silent without Midoriya studying with him. In fact, he found it odd that Midoriya hadn’t stopped by yet to invite him over. He’d checked his All Might themed room and called him a couple times, but all he got was voicemail. Taking the initiative, Todoroki grabbed his book and walked down the stairs once again. His hand hovered in a fist, pausing to knock as Uraraka called his name.

“Isn’t Midoriya with you?” She asked. He found it odd that she would make that assumption. “He said that you texted him last night to meet you somewhere after school today.” Todoroki narrowed his eyes and pulled out his phone.

“I never texted him.” Clicking on his messages, there was, in fact, a conversation last night.

20:34 User: Izuku. I need you to meet me tomorrow after school. Come alone. I’ll send you the location.

Izuku is online

20:34 Izuku: ok

20:36 Izuku: wait y? What’s up

User is offline

21:09 Izuku: Todoroki?

“I never sent that,” He claimed. That would explain the odd behavior. Calling anyone by their first name without permission was unprecedented, much less appropriate, for a student of his standing. He furrowed his brows as something clicked. “but I bet I know who did. We need to find Jiro.” Todoroki grabbed Uraraka’s wrist and dragged her along. 

They hustled towards Jiro’s room, the closer they got the more the building vibrated. By the time they’d arrived, loud music escaped the from all of the pores of the walls. Todoroki let go of Uraraka and loudly banged on the door. It took a few seconds, but the volume dropped slightly and the door opened. As soon as she pulled off her headphones, he held up his phone and spoke.

“Can you track a phone?” 

-

“I still don’t get it. So you’re saying someone messaged Midoriya from your phone, and you need me to see if he’s there because he's not answering? Cool. I’ve always wanted to be apart of a murder mystery,” she shrugged and plugged one of her jacks into Todoroki’s phone. Jiro grabbed the closest notebook and called Midoriya’s number. Todoroki and Uraraka watched Jiro’s pen scribble across the pad.

“Those are the most recent coordinates based off of the signal that Midoriya got from the call and the cell towers,” she explained and ripped the paper off. Todoroki grabbed it and plugged the location into his phone, noticing her practically glowing with pride.

“Good job, Kyouka! Now, let’s go get Deku!” Uraraka cheered. Todoroki quickly stepped in her way, and her expression fell.

“My apologies, but you can’t come. Don’t tell anyone about this, please. I’ll take care of it.” He cut her off before she could protest by making his way down the hallway and out of the building. Todoroki broke into a jog, glancing at the directions on his phone every so often. If his suspicions were true, then Midoriya was in danger. Hopefully, he could persuade their way out of the situation without letting his classmate get hurt. 

The distance was a little over two miles to an isolated part of town, which was fine for a UA student. Now came the hard part: finding where Midoriya went after the call. Todoroki followed the sounds of periodic thumps and yells. He turned into an alleyway.


	3. Recovery

Fingers twitched, met with heavy clouds weighing them down. He waited for his head to still before Todoroki let his eyes fall open. His numb hands came up to greet fabric blocking the light from reaching him. His entire body went cold despite his temperature regulation. This felt entirely too familiar and he wanted them gone as soon as possible.

“Todoroki! You’re awake! How’re you feeling?” A high pitched voice slurred through his ears. It was definitely Midoriya. He groaned in response, fingers failing to obey his commands to rip the cloth off of his eyes. “Recovery Girl said you should leave that on. She said you might get hurt if you- ok.” The older stopped short as Todoroki gave one final effort and removed his bandages.

He winced as his vision was flooded with light and blinked the sleep through his eyes. He blinked again before rubbing at his left eye, the skin around the scar scratching his hand. Todoroki gave up and waved his arm across his field of vision. His ribs burned, a quick look revealing another layer of bandages under his shirt. 

“Are you ok? You were out for a while.” Midoriya’s voice softened considerably. He’d woken up hours before Todoroki, trying to distract himself from the throbbing pain in his legs by typing persistently in the A-1 group chat. The silence from his classmate had been deafening.

“I’m fine.” He trailed off, turning for the first time to face Midoriya sitting on the bed next to his. His legs were wrapped up to the knees, and there was a large patch covering the cut on his forehead. Still, green eyes stared at him with concern. Todoroki plopped back down, ignoring the pounding in his head that followed, and covered his eyes with his arm in an attempt to drive away the burning guilt that was suffocating him. “I’m sorry. If only I had checked my phone I could have kept him away from you.”

“No, I should have talked to you earlier. I was just nervous since you, er, Endeavor I guess, called me Izuku.” Midoriya waved off his worries. “Speaking of which, why would Endeavor call me that?”

“Oh. I have your contact as ‘Izuku’ in my phone. I apologize for not asking first. I can change it if it makes you feel uncomfortable.” It took all of his power for Todoroki not to burst into flames in embarrassment. He silently thanked Midoriya for not mentioning his use of the given name during the incident. Meeting Midoriya’s eyes, Todoroki quickly calmed down.

“I don’t mind at all! You can call me Izuku! We are friends after all.” He chirped. A thought seemed to occur to him, and he nervously fiddled with the hem of the bedding. Midoriya quieted. “Can I call you Shouto? I mean, you don’t have to say yes, it’s just that we’ve been friends for a while, ya’know.” Todoroki cut off his stumbling.

“That’s fine.” Midoriya’s shoulders released their tension, and he cracked Todoroki the biggest smile he could muster before they heard the doorknob click. All Might and Recovery Girl walked into the room, ending any noise the two had been making.

“Midoriya, didn’t I tell you to make sure Todoroki kept his bandages on?” Recovery Girl scolded. She walked over to their beds, kissing Midoriya’s knees before planting one on Todoroki’s head. Midoriya apologized and scratched his neck awkwardly. 

“Young Midoriya. A word?” Said student quickly turned at the sound of his mentor’s voice. He nodded in response and hoisted himself off the bed, hissing as his feet hit the tile. Noticing his wavering step, All Might held out his elbow, which Midoriya latched onto, and lead him out of the recovery room.

The thrumming in Todoroki’s injuries had already begun to die down from the kiss by the time Midoriya and All Might had left the room. “How long were we out?” He asked the doctor. She didn’t look up as she grabbed some supplies from the cabinets by her desk. 

“Just a day now. That boy was worried sick about you.” She hobbled over to him and began checking his chest. The entirety of his exposed skin was painted with dark bruises. He almost winced. She poked and prodded before shining a light in his eyes. The light hesitated over his left eye before clicking on and off. “Your dilation response is decreased.”

“It’s been blurry for years. I guess hitting my head made it worse,” He turned away to grab his phone. 38 notifications from the class group chat. Typically, he wouldn’t waste his time with such a trivial thing, but after the repercussions of not checking his phone coupled with the urge to occupy his mind with something, he scrolled through it. 

“I’ll allow you to attend class, but we’ll have to check next week to see if you’ll be able to participate in the provisional exercises. That goes for you too, Midoriya.” She instructed in a commanding voice as Midoriya and All Might re-entered the room. It was too short for the two to have a conversation, so Todoroki reasoned that it was just an excuse to get Midoriya away from his friend while his injuries were being discussed. Todoroki silently thanked the hero for that. “Come after school so I can fix those injuries further. I’d like if you two didn’t make a habit out of this.”

“Does that mean we can go?” Midoriya chimed in.

“Don’t act like you’ve been stuck here forever.” Recovery Girl scolded, but a soft smile contradicted her tone. “Please take it easy. Come back immediately if those burns of yours start acting up.”

“Let’s go, Shouto!” The green haired boy cheered, rushing to pull Todoroki up out of the bed. 

“Not so fast, Midoriya. I’ll be keeping Todoroki here over the weekend to watch his concussion. You can visit him later.” Midoriya frowned but reasoned that that was fair.

“I’ll see you then, ok, Shou?” Todoroki smiled politely as his classmate left. The weekend dragged on for years. Aside from Midoriya, only Bakugou and Yaoyorozu had visited him, one of which to give him his homework and the other to mock him for having to be saved by All Might. It seems he didn’t know about Endeavor. That was good.

Midoriya had visited Todoroki four times total before the younger made a bold choice. The couple days of utter silences, save the few visits, gave him a lot of time to think before Midoriya stopped by again. The entire reason either of them had ended up here in the first place was because Endeavor hadn’t approved of their friendship. There was nothing he could do to stop him from trying again, angrier than before after being confronted by All Might, but he hoped he could at least lessen the chances of that happening. As soon as Midoriya walked in, Todoroki confronted him.

“Midoriya,” Todoroki took a breath, the name awkward in his mouth after calling him Izuku for the past few days. “Could you please stay away from me?” Midoriya, shockingly, kept the waterworks down until he was out of the room, but Todoroki noticed the way his lips quivered slightly. He turned sharply, pacing away without saying a word. He hesitated at the door, then walked away, but Todoroki could hear him begin to cry. It hurt him just as much, but he wouldn’t risk Endeavor doing something worse to his friend. He knew his father, and the man always got what he wanted, so until he was certain they were safe, he’d hold Midoriya at arm’s length.

Iida brought him a clean uniform and his backpack from his room that Monday morning. He quickly changed, more than ready to rid himself of the singed clothes. Todoroki was met with a barrage of questions the second he entered the classroom. It seemed everyone was dying to know who they’d fought. He kept his cold demeanor, but internally, the noise was making his head pound. He instinctively looked across the room for Midoriya, but the other had his head on his desk, Uraraka smoothing his hair down, talking quietly.

“Hey hey, peppermint-“ ”-I think we’re really running out of names to call him.” ”gimme the scoop. You don’t have to tell these guys. Just tell your best friend.” Kaminari begged, ignoring Ashido’s interruption. Todoroki tilted his head slightly. Why would he tell Midoriya? He already knew everything.

“Oi! Leave Halfie alone. If anything, mock that this extra needed 50% off to save him.” Bakugou barked and jabbed a thumb at Midoriya sitting behind him, earning a small ‘please don’t’ from said kid. That got everyone’s attention turned back Midoriya, so Todoroki gave Bakugou a small nod of appreciation. The blonde ‘tch’ed at him and turned away. 

“Shut up and sit down. I’ve got cats to get home to.” Everyone scampered to their seats as Aizawa entered the room.


	4. A Brief Visitor

“Does he not wanna be friends because I got him hurt or because I’m annoying-“ “You got that right” “Does he not like me? I thought we were on the same page! One day he’s calling me by my first name, the next he’s not even talking to me at all.” “He called you Izuku?” “We haven’t even studied together since then! Why does he get to just cut me off? I mean, shouldn’t I get a say? I wanna be friends, you know?” Midoriya stopped raking his hands through his hair and looked up from his pacing. Kirishima gave him a knowing smile.

“If I’d stopped pestering Lord Explosion Murder over here, we’d never have started dating.” Midoriya noticed for the first time that Kirishima was draped over Bakugou, playing with his blonde hair while the other worked on his homework on the floor. He hadn’t noticed in his frustration after bursting into  
Kirishima’s room. It felt too pure, like something he shouldn’t have interrupted. Midoriya looked away and hummed in response. 

“Why does it matter? D’ya like him? Go bother your stupid friends or die. I don’t really care, just go away.” The pencil’s lead snapped and Bakugou sent a glare in his generally direction as his palms crackled intimidatingly. Midoriya’s hands shot up in defensive, suddenly nervous.

“Don’t say things like that, Kacchan! I already bothered Uraraka and Iida too much, they won’t let me talk about Todoroki until I ‘fix my issues’.” He put air quotes around the last part and Kirishima laughed, commenting about how he had dodged the question.

“You’re overthinking this, Midoriya. Just talk to him once he comes back from visiting his mom.” “Or fight him. That’s what we did.” Kirishima lightly smacked Bakugou’s shoulder, but didn’t disagree. Midoriya let out an exasperated sigh and marched out of the “manly” room. They did bring up a good point though. He’d talk to Todoroki once he returns and if it comes to it, he’ll just fight him because that seemed to solve all of his problems for some reason.

 

It was dark and dreary by the time Todoroki left the hospital. Between the time he’d entered and the time he’d left, it’d started raining, and while that normally wouldn’t bother him, it was making his bandages uncomfortably shift around his ribs. 

He turned the corner along a street and the rain stopped. Well, it didn’t stop, but it took some processing for Todoroki to realize and arm had been slung around his shoulders and an umbrella was held above his head. He tensed instinctively. Visiting Recovery Girl everyday was really taking a toll on his response time. Todoroki looked up to a hooded figure wearing a surgical mask. Blue eyes and black bangs were the only things that got through from under the hood. He was above to pull away when said figure spoke. 

“Here. You’re gonna catch a cold, Shouto.” Dabi smiled, or Todoroki assumed he smiled based on the way his cheeks raised above the mask. 

“How do you know I won’t scream and run away or attack you?” He heard his brother snicker. He felt the skin on his throat warm up considerably. Not enough to burn, but it was a warning. “Figures. What do you want?”

“I have a proposition for you. Join us. Join the league and you won’t get hurt. We can protect you. A change is coming, the end of heroes, and all you have to do is give us some information from time to time.” Todoroki almost scoffed. A villain asking a student in the hero program mere blocks away from said hero school to be a villain? He swatted away Dabi’s hand. The older made no move to grab him; they both knew he wouldn’t run. “You really wanna do what our old man forced us to do?”

“I am going to become the best hero, and I don’t need some low lives protecting me on the way up.”

“Low lives? We are exactly the same. I’m making a better world for people like us. A world where kids don’t have to grow up with these scars.” He pulled up his sleeve to show the half user the myriad of burns covering every inch of skin. Todoroki uncomfortably rubbed his own layer of bandages. “Don’t you want that, Shouto?” Dabi asked, surprising Todoroki with his earnest tone.

“Shou-Chan!” Both Todorokis looked up to see Midoriya waving from the UA gate. 

“Bye, Touya.” The umbrella was shoved into Shouto’s hand, and, before his brother left, the older slipped a pen into Shouto’s front pocket then promptly turned away. Not hearing a reply, he crossed the gate onto the threshold. Midoriya smiled at him from under his own umbrella. Together, they approached the Heights Alliance building. “Apologies. I didn’t make you wait long, did I?”

“Mm-mm, not long. Who was that?” The shorter glanced over his shoulder, but Dabi was already gone. 

“Just my brother.” It seemed as though he wasn’t going to elaborate, so Midoriya dropped it. He skipped a step to catch up to Todoroki’s pace. 

“Shou-chan, I think we should really talk about what happened in the alley-“ “Stop, Midor-“ “I told you to call me Izuku. I don’t know what’s wrong, but I want to be friends again!” He practically yelled, reaching out to grab Todoroki’s sleeve when it was yanked away from his grasp.

“Pardon my boldness, but please stop talking about what happened. Just forget about me,” Todoroki replied, indifferently. Midoriya halted in place. “Have a good night, Izuku.”

Todoroki practically melted into his bed as soon as he entered his bedroom, but the conversation was echoing in his mind, keeping him from sleep. Absentmindedly thumbing the bump in his pocket, he remembered that his brother had given him something. He pulled the pen out. Taped to it was a paper that, unraveled, read: “Tear this off after read. Place in teachers lounge, press button to record, then drop in the alleyway behind the hero merch shop on 4th @ 2 on Friday. Edit out anything unrelated to Midoriya Izuku. Fake it ‘til you make it, -Dabi.”

He immediately ripped up the paper and burned it into ashes, mulling it over. The phrasing was odd, even if he didn’t know Touya that well. It seemed he had some discussing to do next week.


	5. Masked

He slipped over the wall of the indicated alleyway, grunting at the impact as his feet hit the ground. It’d been a month, but his heart still pounded like a train as it did the first night. As he’d expected, Dabi was leaning casually against the grimey brick lining the area. He shuffled around in his pocket and passed the pen over, receiving the previous week’s in return. 

“How long am I to do this? You don’t benefit from this at all,” Todoroki asked. His pulse jolted initially as he spoke, forgetting the distortion abilities of the mask his brother had given him. It was just a plain white mask, the only features being two shaded holes for his eyes, but it did the job in concealing his identity.

“Until we finish our operations, of course. We may not benefit from this info, but nobody has to know that. Just, ya’know, appreciate the fact that our little scheme earns you immunity.” Dabi was pocketing the recording device when his arms were jerked back at the elbow. Todoroki tilted his head to see long strips of cloth binding his brother’s arms back. Aizawa. He felt his blood run cold, but shook his head and quickly cut the offending object with a concealed knife. It didn’t matter to him that Aizawa was erasing his quick. His half fire half ice quirk was so identifiable that he’d resorted to using a knife for any shady fellow he might encounter along his journey. His hand to hand training was the only thing he’d ever thank his father for. 

Stepping in front of Dabi and brandishing his small knife defensively, he was pulled back into a chokehold, the knife easily wrestled from his grasp in a technique that came from years of street combat. Before he could react, the blade was pressed lightly against the skin of his throat.

“Mr. Aizawa! It’s been a while. I was wondering how long it’d be until you caught onto my little scheme.” Aizawa clicked his tongue in annoyance, drawing the fabric back.

“Why are you threatening me with the life of another villain?” ‘Villain’. It wasn’t as if Aizawa had any clue as to who he was, not to mention what exactly he’d been doing, but it felt like a personal offense hearing his teacher say that. Todoroki squirmed awkwardly in his grasp, and Dabi pulled back on his head, exposing his neck more for better access to the various veins and arteries running along his neck.

“Just wondering how far you’d go to protect a UA student. Kiddo, ya’ got your ID on you?” Without hearing a response, Dabi grabbed Shouto’s student ID that would let him back on campus after his expedition. He covered the picture with the pad of his finger and flashed it at Aizawa. Luckily for the student, they were too far apart for his teacher to catch any of the identifying information. “A little bird told me that the kid was one of your favorites, too. So unless you want blood on your hands or a very tired student tomorrow, I’ll be escorting this one home. It’s been fun, Aizawa, sir.” 

Aizawa’s cloth reclaimed its spot around his neck, and he made no effort to follow as Dabi dragged the masked student into a diverging pathway. If it was one of the 1-A students, he’d be able to find record of them using their ID to return. If not, then he had a lot of work to do. 

He lifted himself onto the roof of one of the buildings with his cloth and started on his way towards the school. He was almost there when he spotted the masked student below him. Before the kid could react, he shot the fabric into him. Todoroki grunted and cut them quickly higher up so anything that came in contact with his blood wouldn’t be acquired by Aizawa. Again, another tendril smacked his head into the wall. His ears rang and his left eye went black for a second. Todoroki discretely froze the lock of a back door, stabbed it when it was cold enough to shatter, and disappeared inside of the building. By the time Aizawa got down there, he had vanished inside the darkness of the building

 

The following week, Aizawa kept his distance, watching the perpetrator maneuver to a new drop site. There was nothing he could tell just by looking at them. Hair and face concealed, no known quirk, distorted voice. It’d frustrated him endlessly this week, but he had the perfect plan to catch and interrogate the student. Shinsou Hitoshi waited silently at his side.

The two villains only meet briefly, but their conversation seemed familiar, almost affectionate, as if they knew each other well. Aizawa pushed his hair out of his face as harsh winds whipped it against his skin. Shinsou was scribbling something in a small notepad as he observed. It read, “Villain Dabi and unidentified UA traitor. Presumably meet weekly. Trade small objects between them. Recording device? IDs used to return to campus change weekly. Uses ID to return at night, 1-A student? Dabi seems comfortable. Friends/siblings?” Aizawa nodded in approval, and by the time he returned his gaze to the alley below, the traitor was leaving. 

He grabbed Shinsou with his cloth and used it to swing like a pendulum onto the ground floor of empty building the masked student was passing through. Said kid turned at the sound of them hitting the ground, but didn’t run. They appeared to know there was no escape without an altercation. 

“Who are you? Are you a part of the League?” Shinsou called. The masked student turned ever so slightly from facing Shinsou to Aizawa.

“Aizawa, sir, you must think lowly of me to assume I’d fall for something as simple as mind control.” The mask distorted the voice until it was just crackling sounds that the heroes had to strain to decipher. “I don’t want any part in this any more than you do. I am simply doing what’s best for my classmate.”

“Turn yourself in peacefully. You won’t win this,” Aizawa commanded. Before he could respond, Todoroki’s quirk was erased and his wrists were caught by the bindings. He didn’t fight back. Shinsou cleared the space between them cautiously. This person knew him well enough to know how to bypass his quirk, but he wasn’t presenting as hostile. Shinsou began to pat him down and retrieved the pen. As soon as he hesitated to look at it, Todoroki elbowed him and turned to rip his restraints on the sharp point of Shinsou’s hero mask. He pulled the knife from the strap on his leg and grabbed Shinsou, holding the knife to the back of his neck. Shinsou’s breathing hitched and all attempts to stop him from Aizawa halted. To their surprise, Todoroki cut through the layers of cloth that donned Shinsou’s neck and threw it to the ground. He shoved his classmate back to his teacher.

“Please. I do not want to fight you. You don’t understand. I am doing what is best,” Todoroki tried to reason a second time. It was no use. Aizawa pulled Shinsou back and attempted to apprehend the mask again. Todoroki sloppily dodged and cut, startling when his classmate ran at him from the side with a knife. Having to rely on quirkless combat when he couldn’t trick someone into responding to him, Shinsou’s hand-to-hand skills far exceeded Todoroki’s. Todoroki was knocked off balance and stumbled into a carbon fiber cloth meant to grab him. It pierced through his skin into his abdomen. Adrenaline coursed through him and he punched Shinsou on the side of his head. He scampered up, trying to exit the building when he was caught by the ankle. 

He fell to the floor before being thrown into the wall. This was becoming kind of his thing at this point. One with the wall. He chuckled at the thought. His heart rate was slowing down as the extreme nerves he was facing calmed him. He staggered up, using the wall as support.

“How far are you willing to go, sir? You’d really kill one of your 1-A students?” At this point, Todoroki wasn’t even fighting back. All vision in his left eye was gone. He only exerted enough effort to cut away any attempts to contain him. In his daze, Todoroki missed the person behind him. Shinsou brought his foot down against Todoroki’s head. This time, he didn’t get back up.

Aizawa wasted no time tying him up. Shinsou crouched above him before removing the mask and cowl secures under the hood of his jacket.

“Todoroki?”


End file.
